Can anyone recommend (or to avoid) carpet shampooer/washer please..

Make sure it has a Auto mix system(seperate tanks for the cleaning fluid & the water),& it preheats the water, some cleaners you have to use warm tap water.
Got a Bissel here, it has good & bad points, it really deep cleans the carpet, & leaves them dry enough to walk on.

Upholstery cleaning is a doddle with the permanently attached extension hose, again it deeps clean.
But, I do not like the tank-in-tank system,there is a inner polyethylene tank which holds the clean water, the outer one the dirty water.

 

I have a Bissel too, I bought it direct from Bissel as a factory refurb. Works quite well and also has a hose with fittings so can use it to do the car too.

 

I recently bought a Numatic George from; https://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/Product.asp?ID=206

I know it is slightly over your budget but is does have other uses. It's effectively 4 cleaners in one; traditional dry vacuum, wet vacuum, wet floor cleaner and carpet cleaner. Suction is excellent with a 1200W motor and Numatic is renowned for quality and reliability.

I did my hall and stair carpet with it recently and after 3 or 4 dry passes with the suction wand after applying the shampoo it was dry in about 2 to 3 hours. You also have a much greater choice of cleaning products that you can use in it.

Having the hand held wand type also makes it easier to into corners and stairs which the upright versions can't. The smaller wand is useful for spot cleaning and upholstery.

However, it's not suitable for cleaning large areas, you will have to tackle it in sections. But that's no bad thing as you will probably have to move furniture around anyway and doing in sections means you can just shift the stuff around in the room rather than having to clear the whole room.

My wife was sceptical as she had previously used a professional carpet cleaner and was concerned that I would leave the carpets sopping wet and smelly. But she was bowled over by the pleasant smell and short drying time and was amazed at the amount of dirty water which I poured out of the machine. On the first pass there was a mud & grit residue left in the bottom of the wash tank.

Highly recommend.

Richard

 

8 year old post...probably changed the carpet by now!